Shaquille O’Neal teaches his kids an important lesson about money: "We ain’t rich … I’m rich"

Former basketball player and sports analyst Shaquille O'Neal, aka Shaq, recently revealed that his six children are "kind of upset" with him because he decided to give them a dose of reality. 

The incident occurred when he told his kids that every penny matters, despite him being rich. "They're kind of upset with me, not really upset but they don't understand," the retired Hall of Fame basketball star said on the Earn Your Leisure podcast, per Fox News. "I tell them all the time, ‘We ain’t rich. I'm rich.’"

Furthermore, he also said he’s not giving his children an opportunity to use him to their advantage. In fact, he said he expects them to go to college and get their degrees. Also, if they ever come up with ideas for a company they want their father to invest in, they will have to present it to him, just like any other person.

He's not going to give them any preferences. O’Neal’s net worth is reported to be somewhere around $400 million. He's made a major chunk of his fortune during his NBA career playing with six different teams. Not just that, he also won four championships and bagged the 2000 MVP award.

Once he was done playing professionally, he made more money with his own sneaker line. He also invested in Papa John’s and took up a role as a spokesman for The General Automobile Insurance among other endeavors. He’s also a basketball analyst for TNT’s NBA shows.

Also, it seems like O'Neal is done with celebrity life as well. "These celebrities are going freaking crazy and I don’t want to be one. I denounce my celebrity-ness today. I’m done with it," he told the New York Post.

"I don’t want to be in that category. Celebrities are crazy, they really are. Don’t call me that anymore. These people are out of their freaking mind with how they treat people, what they do, what they say. That’s never been me. I never want to be looked at like that."

But, O'Neal is someone who's always used his fame for good reasons. In fact, he's earned a reputation for helping others when no one else is looking. "A lot of people describe it as giving back. I describe it as doing what you're supposed to do. You're supposed to help those in need," O'Neal, 49, tells PEOPLE. "If I'm somewhere and see somebody's needing something, I'll take care of it. My favorite places to go to are Best Buy and furniture stores."

Why is he so generous? Well, it's simply because he wants to make his mother proud! "I just always try to continue to do the right thing and just lead by example. I'm all about brightening up people's day," O'Neal shares. We really need more people like him, don't we?